אבנא

Aramaic

Alternative forms

• Syriac: ܐܒܢܐ

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *ʾabn-.

Noun

אַבְנָא • (ʾaḇnā) m or f (plural אַבְנַיָּא)

1. rock, stone (material)
   • Tanach, Daniel 5:4, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     אִשְׁתִּיו חַמְרָא וְשַׁבַּחוּ לֵאלָהֵי דַּהֲבָא וְכַסְפָּא נְחָשָׁא פַרְזְלָא אָעָא וְאַבְנָא׃

     ʾištīw ḥamrā wəšabbáḥū lēlāhē dahăḇā wəḵaspā nəḥāšā p̄arzəlā ʾāʿā wəʾaḇnā.

     They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

   • Babylonian Talmud, Tamid 26b:

     אמר אביי דמתקני ומייתי מעיקרא אבני זוטרתא ואבני רברבתא

     ʾămar ʾabbayyē d?m?t?q?nē ūm?ṯē mēʿiqqārā ʾaḇnē zūṭərāṯā wəʾaḇnē raḇrəḇāṯā

     Abaye said “to prepare and bring from the beginning small stones and large stones,”

References

• “ˀbn”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• Jastrow, Marcus (1903) A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Payne Smith, Jessie (1903) A Compendious Syriac Dictionary Founded Upon the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith, D.D., Oxford: Clarendon Press